Patriotism

Those of you that have followed the blog for a while know that I am a fan and collector of Scouting literature. I don’t just collect the books, magazines, and other literature, I love to get into them and see how Scouting was, how Green Bar Bill wrote and what the program looked like over the decades.
A common phrase I hear often from “older” Scouters is how things were “Back when I was a Scout”. It seems that things were so much better back when we were Scouts. But then I got to digging in to the literature and what I have found is that the more things change.. the more they really do stay the same.
Yes, before I get hate mail… Scouting has changed a lot over time, but really, it has stayed the same.
In the 1959 edition of the Boy Scout Handbook the Boy Scouts of America talks about YOU, the American Boy.
Before I get into this, I was listening to a podcast the other day. The host of the podcast was talking about kids today and some of the things that they have lost over time. Some of the heritage of America has not been adequately passed down to our kids. I remember when I was a kid that we played like we were on the wild frontier of America. I was Daniel Boone and some of my friends would play the roles of Davy Crockett and Kit Carson, and Wild Bill Hickok. We would fight the battle of the Alamo, build rafts and float down the “Missouri”. We built forts and tried to live the legends of American History. I once met Daniel Boone at Frontier land in Disneyland. It was a great day, you would have thought Daniel Boone came back just for me to meet him.
I think everyone I knew could sing every word of Davy Crockett. You remember.. he was the “King of the wild Frontier”.
I think watching the tv shows, seeing our hero’s at Disneyland, and learning about them in Scouting, School, and out in the woods shaped how we played the game with a purpose then.
Who are the hero’s today? Who are those Davy Crockett’s that the kids today run through the woods acting like?
The 1959 handbook talks about the American boy…“Have you ever dreamed of hiking the wilderness trails that were worn down under moccasins hundreds of years ago? Do you hear in your imagination the almost soundless dip-dip of Indian canoe paddles or the ring of the axe of an early pioneer hewing a home out of the American wilderness? Have you followed with your mind’s eye the covered wagons on the trek across our continent? Have you thought of the men and women who built our country by their determination and devotion? You are the descendant of those people. You are the guardian of what they built. You are the American on whom the future of our wonderful country depends.”
Great writing. It inspired Scouts for years to learn about our heritage and not feel ashamed of being an American boy. It valued the spirit of the pioneer, the frontiersman, the explorer an encouraged the Scout to seek that adventure and become a part of the American Narrative.
We have lost that kind of writing in our current handbooks. Now the handbook gets the Scout to the next rank. But the more they change, the more they are the same. Where we have lost it is in us. We have stopped teaching them. We have stopped allowing them to be American boys.“Today you are an American boy. Before long you will be an American man.” The ’59 handbook continues. “It is important to America that you become a citizen of fine character, physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” We all agree that there is no change there. The handbook, as in today’s handbook sets the course for the Scout to begin a life of values and adventure. “Yes, it’s fun to be a Boy Scout! It’s fun to go hiking and camping with your best friends… to swim, to dive, to paddle a canoe, to wield and axe… to follow in the footsteps of the pioneers who led the way through the wilderness…to stare into the glowing embers of a campfire and dream of the wonders of the life that is in store for you.” Do we make that promise to our boys today? Why not? Nothing has changed there. The world is not that much different.
I always tell our new Scouts as we sit around the campfire to watch the older boys as they join us in the circle. There is a magic in the campfire. It is a magic that no matter who you are or what your job is in the troop, it plays true every time. That magic is in the embers. It forces one to stare and quietly be a part of it. And sure enough, someone will join us in the circle and their eyes will immediately move to glow of the fire. Where once a loud noise came is now silent and engaged in the magic of Scouting. It is for us to not allow things to change. Scouting is rich in tradition, values, adventure, and spirit. The more things change, the more that will always stay the same. If we want it to.
I think that we need to go back and take a look at old handbooks. Look at the writing of William Hillcourt and how he could draw the imagination of the boys of America. Look how he engaged them to being a part of the rich heritage and adventurous spirit of Americans before them.
We have lost that spirit and way that pull the boys of America into this great adventure. It will be gone if we don’t share it. If we don’t allow them to be American boys.
Building rafts like Huck Finn and standing atop the Alamo defending an ideal. Hanging out in a tree house and hiking off into the wilderness in search of new land. We hold them back in the name of protection, we kill their spirit of adventure and call it safety. I cringe at the thought of not passing on our American spirit to this generation of boys.
They want it.. they just don’t know what it is.
The more things change.. the more the American boy is the same.. Let him be one!“When you are a Scout, forest and field, rivers and lakes, are your playground. You are completely at home in God’s great outdoors. You learn to notice every sound, to observe every track. Birds and animals become your friends. You master the skills of walking noiselessly through the woods, of stalking close to a grazing deer without being noticed, of bringing a bird to you by intimating it’s call. You learn to find your way cross country by map and compass, to make a meal when you are hungry, to take a safe swim when you are hot, to make yourself comfortable for the night in a tent or under the stars. You become a true outdoorsman.” Boy just like when I was a kid acting like Daniel Boone.. the king of the wild frontier. This was Scouting when I was a boy… and it is Scouting now. We just need to remember that things really have not changed that much.. it is us that changed. The wilderness still calls, adventure still yells for our boys to come. Are you going to let them?Have a Great Scouting Day!

Allow me to play devils advocate here for a minute. There has been quite a bit of discussion lately via email and in Scouting circles in which I find myself regarding Scouts in our programs. One argument is that Scouting is for every young man, the converse is that Scouting is not for everyone.
Boys enter our program with certain expectations and needs. Those Scouts have parents that also have certain expectations and wants. What I have seen and heard lately is that some parents and Scouts are not getting what they thought they would out of Scouting. I have been in discussions in which parents believe that their son is not having fun in the program. The question that I ask is simply, is Scouting really for everyone?
I submit for the sake of discussion that maybe Scouting is not for every boy. It may be that what Scouting offers is not what they want or need. It may be that the boy is not ready for the adventures that Scouting offer and well-intentioned parents do not really understand what Scouting is all about. It is also true that many Scout leaders do not know what Scouting is all about and therefore have promoted a program that misses the mark when it comes to achieving Scouting’s aims. This has led to young boys joining troops that quickly disappoint or fail to deliver on the expectations they and their parents had on the join night.
Scouting at its core is about adventure and when a boy joins a unit that is full of adventure he may not be ready or willing to participate. Now, some would argue that participation is really not something that is of real importance in Scouting, but it is through participating fully in the program that the Scout gets the most out of Scouting. I had a mother say to me the other night that her son does not attend winter camp outs because he did not have a good experience during last years winter camping season. Why? Well, maybe he does not like camping in the winter.. I am ok with that. But does that paint the whole program as a negative thing? No, but maybe the Scout is not ready or willing. Once a boy starts down the road of picking and choosing those activities that he does not wish to participate in he will find it easier to reduce the level of activity he does. This is not true in all cases, remember that I am not suggesting anything here other that this is a question that we should ask. Maybe Scouting is not for everyone. Here is what I am saying…
Scouting is not for everyone. Scouting should not change to meet the Scouts needs. Scouting needs to stay the course on being an organization that has values, ideals, and adventure. Scouting should not “dumb down” to allow for boys to have a club to join. There are plenty of clubs out there that he can find a place in. Now, before you all jump on me let me say this here and make it very clear that I am not talking at all about Scouts or I should say boys with disabilities. This discussion has nothing… I repeat nothing to do with disabilities. That is another discussion and I think that needs to be addressed another time. I will say that there are ample opportunities for boys with disabilities to participate in Scouting and I encourage every young man who shows interest to try Scouting no matter the “ability”. I will also say that no.. I do not consider ADD, ADHD, Autism, and a lack of focus a disability. Not when it comes to Scouting and the Scouting program. We prove over and over again that Scouts that have been diagnosed with ADD, ADHD and Autism can participate in Scouting and high adventure activities. My Troop is proof of this. Moving on…
Scouting should not promote that everyone will be an Eagle Scout just because he joins and has a pulse. Scouting should continue to push the Scout to discover his world and find his limits.. then push them outside of his comfort zone. If Scouting decides to become the YMCA or Boys Club it will no longer deliver the promise. It will just become another after school club and that is not Scouting. That is not what Baden Powell, William Hillcourt, James E West, and the rest of the men that founded and established the direction for Scouting had in mind. We can met Scouts where they are, but we can never get away from the intent of the Scouting movement. We can not stray from the methods that lead us to achieving the aims and we can never allow Scouting to just be another club.
Not everyone wants what Scouting offers. Numbers, while they drive much of what the professional Scouters track are not the program. A great program that stays the course will bring in the numbers of boys that seek adventure, values, and ideals that are the hallmark of the Scouting program. Numbers for the sake of numbers will be just that and we see this play out each year with amount of boys that leave our units. They don’t want to play the game with a purpose and we should not make them. A football player is not allowed to join a team and then make up the rules of the game or change the team uniform. He joins and plays the game that has been established. Not everyone can or wants to play football, not everyone can or wants to be a Scout. I recently sat with a group of Scouts and asks a few simple questions. The first I asked was if they thought Scouting was nerdy. They all said that they did not think so, but their friends at School did. I asked what they thought the ‘nerdy’ part of Scouting was.. aside from wearing the uniform. I figured I would take away the obvious answer. They all said that their friends really didn’t know what we do. I asked them if they ever tell them what we do. They all pretty much said, no. They did not want to bring it up so they could talk about something else. Then I asked why not? Why not tell their friends that we rock climb at Smith Rock, that we snowshoe and build snow caves. That we have hiked the Oregon Coast trail, shoot shotguns and paddle the Deschutes river. That we backpack miles of the PCT and go caving in some cool volcanic caves. That we spent a week hiking in the Canyon country of New Mexico and that we have gone across the country to tour our Nations Capital and camp with 70,000 other Scouts. I asked why all of that sounds ‘nerdy’. They couldn’t tell me. But these are the guys that want to do all of that. These are Scouts and they want to be Scouts. Their friends could not nor would they be willing to do all of that, even given the chance. One of the Scouts spoke up and said that his friends thought Scouting was all about doing good deeds and being in Flag ceremonies. His friend said he didn’t want to be in a club that did crafts and sang songs. So I asked this young man what he told his friend. He had a great answer, he told me that he said to his friend that “yeah, we sing songs, but it’s out in the middle of the woods at our campfire at the end of a day that was full of fun”. But then again, that’s a kid that wants what Scouting has to offer.
Ok so what’s the point here. The point is simply this. We beat ourselves up to make sure that every boy joins Scouting. Why? If they join great, but if they quit, did we fail? Did Scouting fail? No.. they just did not fit in our program. I have seen many Scouts come and go from our Troop and I can honestly say that the ones that left did not want to be there. It was nothing we did to chase them away, they just did not want to be in Scouts.
I have said it many times, I would rather have a Troop of 10 motivated boys that want to be there than have a Troop with 50 that don’t.
Am I not supporting Scouting by saying this? Nope I am delivering the promise of Scouting to those that want it.
Once again, I am a fan of the writing of William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt. I have a copy of something he wrote way back when regarding the 10 Essentials of Scoutmastership. It goes like this.

A belief in boys that will make you want to invest yourself and your time on their behalf.A zeal focused upon one point-the boy’s happiness through his formative years- “A happy boy is a good boy, a good boy is a good citizen.An immense faith in Scouting as the program that will best serve to mould our youth into fine men.A realization that to the boys Scouting is a game – to you, a game with a purpose: Character, building citizenship training and physical fitness.A knowledge that to your boys you are Scouting. “What you are speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say”.A steadfastness of purpose to carry out a planned program with energy and perseverance, patience and good humor.A willingness to submerge yourself and make boy leaders lead and grow through and effective application of the Patrol Method.A desire to advance in Scoutmastership by making use of training offered and material available on the subject.A readiness to work hand in hand with home, church, sponsored institution, school, Local Council, National Council for the good of the individual boy and the community as a whole.A love of the outdoors in all its phases and a vision of the hand that created it.

With an effective program that offers the “want to” so a boy joins, stays, and grows in Scouting we can see that Scouting is a great program. But that is not for everyone. If you as a Scouter can honestly read the 10 essentials of Scoutmastership and apply it to your unit you will create that environment. If you do not feel that you can do that, well then you prove the argument, that nope, Scouting is not for everyone, to include adults.
Before I get lots of hate mail… I am playing devils advocate here, but the point for me is taken well. I do not think that everyone needs to be in Scouting. I think those boys that want to be in should and once in we will do everything in our power to deliver to them the very best program.
Now, I do want to hear what you think. Please leave your comments, I would not ask if I didn’t want to know.
Thank you all for all you do in Scouting!
Have a Great Scouting Day!

It is the Scoutmasters obligation to work to achieve the Aims of Scouting… that’s pretty much it. To do that it should be every Scoutmasters goal to get every Scout to the rank of First Class not Eagle Scout.
If you take a look at the requirements to achieve the First Class rank you will note that its pretty much all about Character, Citizenship, and Fitness.
Through the working of these requirements the Scout will learn about the three aims of Scouting and coupled with the skills learned, the teamwork developed, and the fun of the program, the Scout will assist the Scoutmaster in attaining his goal.
Once the foundation has been laid in the working to First Class, the Scout then should be prepared to work toward Eagle Scout where he can explore his world while working merit badges. He can learn and demonstrate leadership, and he can develop a sense of service to his community. Putting it all together we will have produced a good young man.
So back to the First Class rank. When we do not put in the proper perspective and make it all about skills and a means to the end (Eagle Scout), we lose focus on what we are trying to accomplish in Scouting. We are not here to make Eagle Scouts, we are here to make good men. Good Citizens of Character that are fit, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
So, the next time you sit down with a Scout to chat during his Scoutmaster conference for Second Class.. take a look and see if that young man is getting it. If not, reinforce those ideas and share with him your goal.
This is a part of the promise that we make to our Scouts. The adventure comes when the rest is worked.Have a Great Scouting Day!

The wrapping paper is thrown all about, smiles on every face. Hope everyone got what they wanted or needed and the smell of Christmas cooking is filling the air.
I wanted to take just a minute and share my Christmas wishes to you all.
Christmas for me is a special time. Enjoying the time with my family is by far more precious than any gift that can be wrapped. The time that I get to share watching the kids open their gifts, sharing in their joy and company is the very best that life can offer.
I have had the pleasure of spending far to many Christmas’s away from my family. Georgia, Alaska, and Iraq just to name a few of the wonderful locations that Christmas morning was spent without loved ones. Those Christmas’s are the times that I really understood the value of family. It’s when you don’t have them around that you realize just how special they are.
This year as we celebrate our Christmas we celebrate with the heaviness in our hearts that next Christmas our oldest son may not be with us to celebrate. John leaves in two weeks to serve our country in the Army. And while I am extremely proud of him and know that he will serve with honor and pride, we are going to miss him dearly.
So this year, we make the most of the time spent with him and the whole family.
So the giving of gifts and the exchange of Christmas wishes are always met with the blessing of our family.
From my family to yours.
Merry Christmas! I hope you got some new gear and are ready for the new year!Have a Great Scouting Day!

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I have no comment on the results of the election. I hope that everyone voted and did their civic duty.
What I do think about the election and our election process is this. No matter who won there was a process that we the people agree is the best way to elect our leadership. It may not be perfect but it works for us. Not everyone is happy about the results.. about 49% of America is not to jazzed about the outcome, but that is how it works. If we want to change the way it works, we have the ability to do so through the process.
This is a great teaching opportunity for our Scouts, who I am sure have also had their collective fill of TV commercials, junk mail, and dinner table conversations about the election. Now is the time to answer those questions that they may not understand, encourage them to be a part of the process starting with their student government, but most importantly the fact that whether it is a school election or a national election, they must get out and vote and let their voice be heard. Even if that voice is a small oval on a ballot.
I am trying real hard to keep my political opinion to myself here. As we should when talking with our Scouts, but this is my blog and I suppose I can say what I want, but in the interest of being Loyal, Courteous, and kind… I will reserve comment on how I feel about the bad choice we American’s made… Again.Have a Great Scouting Day

It’s time for another SMMPodcast. In this show we discuss a topic that seems to be on many Scouters minds, Is Scouting still Relevant?
Listen in as I share some of my thoughts on the issue.
This show is brought to you by Badge Magic.
Hope you like the show, leave feedback, send an email to tbirdironchef@gmail.com.
Follow me on twitter @smjerry and of course subscribe to the blog and leave your comments here.
Listen here or download.

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On a rainy Thursday evening the Thunderbird District of the Cascade Pacific Council converged on Willamette National Cemetery. If they didn’t come the 140,000 grave markers would go without a flag this Memorial Day. For 44 years the Thunderbird District has placed flags on the graves at Willamette. Over those 44 years the Scouts of the District have seen the number of flags increase. In 1968 when the District started placing the flags our Nation was burying young men killed in action in Vietnam. They were serving our community by honoring World War I veterans that were being interned at this hallowed ground. Then the Cold War saw routine burials of World War II Veterans followed by Korean War Veterans.
Today the grounds have swelled and expanded from 201 acres to 301 acres. A new section is filling with Veterans from the Vietnam era and new grave markers host men and women from Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope we will not have to expand the cemetery further.
This evening in a steady rain my Troop placed flags in section F. That is our section, the area we place flags in every year. Each year, as the Troop grows, we cover the area a little faster, but not without reverence and a sense of thankfulness for the reason these men and women are buried at Willamette National Cemetery. They all served and so we in turn will continue to serve.
As a Veteran and Scoutmaster, I am so very proud of the Scouts of not only my Troop, but the Packs, Troops, and Crews from our District. The dedication of these Scouts and Scouters to place these flags is special to me and to the families that will be paying their respects, the visitors to loved ones, the children of a Veteran, and the passer-by that stops into Willamette to see what this is all about.
Tonight our Scouts practiced a very important part of being a citizen. Love for our Country and our fellow Countrymen.
Watching the Scouts tonight renewed my belief in our young people. Thank you Scouts!Have a Great Scouting Day!

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The last couple of days have been days that were inspiring for me. Inspiring in a couple of ways, lets start with Veterans Day.
Our High School held its first ever “Living History Day” on Wednesday. This was a day in which the entire school honored Veterans from all era’s. Inspiring because of the hard work and dedication the student body put into the event. Along with a coordinator, the students of the largest high school in the state put on a class A event. Veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan were invited and in attendance. They decorated the school with massive American flags and lined the street leading to the high school with hundreds of flags. A local military museum had an old WW I tank in display as well as a 1910 Taxi from France. The National Guard had some displays of current equipment, but it was the student body that really highlighted the experience.
The culinary class put out a nice spread of coffee and baked goods and made a wonderful lunch. The JROTC cadets provided escorts that lead Veterans into the classrooms for 2 hours to talk with and answer questions from the students. The student body dressed in shirts and ties and the girls wore nice outfits in honor of the special guests.
I was extremely impressed with the questions asked in the classrooms that I had the pleasure of being invited to. At the end of the school day they held an assembly. Because the school is so large they can not get the entire student body in one place at the same time, plus all of the Veterans, so the Freshman met in the small gym and listened to speakers from a number of conflicts. The sophomores met in the performing arts center with a Holocaust survivor. This brave man made a great impression on the kids. His story was that of perseverance and will.
The Juniors and Seniors met in the main gym with the bulk of the Veterans. One of the Tuskegee Airman gave a speech on making your mark in the world and both challenged and inspired the students. There were recognitions of the services and some of the individuals that were in the gym that truly left a mark with their service. I appreciate all the hard work that the students put into this event. I was told by one of my son’s friends that is on the student council that the student government as well as many clubs and sports teams spent the better part of a week preparing for the event. The day and night before, they stayed at the school and many slept at the school until the final details were complete.
I am proud of these kids.
The second part of this weeks inspiration came on the Football field last night. Now, if you follow this blog you know that I love football. I think that every one should participate in some team sport. I may into that at another time, but for the sake of this post, lets just say that team sports develop in young people values and ethics that when coupled with Scouting, round them out in their growth and make them better people. The Reynolds Raider Football team has been a program that has struggled for many years. They have gone season after season without a winning record, there has been little pride in the program and the student body has been patient, but not very supportive. Last year the school hired a new head coach that brought not only a new and exciting offense to the team, but a new attitude to the team in which the team meant more than the individual. It has been a real slow go and last year the team won only one game. Which given the previous years was an accomplishment.
This year the team has been sparked by an enthusiastic group of underclassmen and a solid core of Seniors. What they lacked in skills and strength, they made up for in heart and grit. Game after game, they went out and never gave up. They won two games in the regular season this year. Yes, only two games, but they scored a lot of points and in the games they lost, the margin was very tight, loosing one game in overtime. The Oregon Student Sports Association (OSAA) has a unique playoff system in which the top teams get an automatic bid into the playoffs while the bottom teams are given one chance to “make it” into the playoffs to fill the remaining spots in the bracket. they call this a “Play in” game. The Raiders played in one of these games last Friday. With no time left on the clock and down by 7 points, they scored a touchdown. The coach decided to test his young men. It was win or lose and the ball was placed for the point after. They were going for 2 to win the game or go home.
A quick pass in the corner of the end zone and the Reynolds Raiders entered the Play offs for the first time in seven years!
Last night was that first play off game. Lined up against the number one team in the State the challenge was great. This would test the team in more ways than just making plays.
The Lake Oswego Lakers are a great team. They are undefeated and possess all the skill, team work, and an established program that keeps them at the top of the brackets year after year. Surely a game that would be easy to give up on, but the Raiders took the field last night and stood toe to toe with the best. They saw how the number one team could move the ball at will and how a team that is dedicated to winning could impose themselves on anyone that lined up.
But here is the inspiring part, did the Raiders quit? Give up and allow themselves to be taken out of the game? NO. In fact, they came out and fought hard on the field. They passed the ball with precision and pressured the Lakers and made them earn their points. Mistakes were made and at the end of the game it was not close, but the Raiders kept their heads up and learned from the experience. The Lakers knew that playing against a 3 and 7 team should not have been a challenge, but showed a lot of class and respect for our team. This too was a great lesson for our team. Winning with class and having respect for your opponent.
Heart and dedication is building a football program at our High School. Next will be better, and the year after will be better yet because of these young men on the field.
<DAD MOMENT>
As you all are also aware, Josh my youngest son, is the Starting Quarterback for the varsity team. He is only a Sophomore and had a great season. Last night facing number one, he threw for a touchdown and ran for one. Those were the Raiders only two scores in the game. He finished his first Varsity season with many great accomplishments including throwing 22 touchdown passes and well over 2150 yards of passing. He helped take his team to their first playoff game and is part of the core that will move the team to future success.
</DAD MOMENT>
The final inspiration of the week came on Thursday night when our oldest son met with the District Advancement chairman and his team with his Eagle packet. His application is in, paperwork complete, and now waiting on his Board of Review.
An accomplishment that I never achieved as a kid. His hard work, dynamic leadership, and will to finish has earned him the right to join the ranks of those we call Eagle Scouts. I am so proud of him and inspired by his work. He turns 18 on Tuesday and Monday starts his final season Wrestling for Reynolds High School. His hard work in Scouting, School, and on the wrestling mat has brought him many success and set him up for success in the future.
This has been an inspirational week for me. Inspiration from youth! I am sure we will be in good hands in the future if what I saw this week and what I see almost everyday is any indication.
Be inspired.. take a look at the kids around you.

The last line of the Declaration of Independence is often over shadowed by the rest of this powerful document.
As the Declaration begins, our founding Fathers set down a path that was treasonous to the crown. As they, point by point outlined the reasons to declare Independence from the crown, they were driven deeper and deeper into certain trouble. Knowing the committment that they had for the cause of freedom they write; “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
They knew full well that in the end this declaration was the nails that would seal their coffins. They pledged their sacred Honor.
Well what does that mean? Honor means to be fair, to be accountable, to maintain integrity in one’s beliefs and actions, to be a credit to. Yes, by definition our founding Fathers demonstrated a great deal of honor.
When we pledge the Scout Oath, we start by saying “On my Honor”… But do we have the same level of committment that our founding Fathers had.. at least intellectually? When we make a promise, do we keep it? When we say that “On my honor, I will do my best”.. do we? Are we accountable for our actions, do we maintain integrity in our beliefs? Are we a credit to our families, our organizations and our selves? These are questions that I wonder if the founding Fathers contemplated as they sat and wrote the declaration. I wonder if they had trust that each and every one of the signers understood and believed as they did. Deep in my mind I think the answer is yes. Another time and place maybe? No, I don’t think so. I think that Honor is just as alive today as it was on the 4th of July in 1776.
What I do think is that we don’t hold each other as accountable in its practice.
When our Scouts raise that right hand and say the Scout Oath.. it’s not just words that get the meeting started, it is our sacred honor. It is a promise, a pledge, an Oath that means something.
Have a Safe Independence Day Weekend! Think about where we would have been had these brave men not pledged their Sacred Honor.Have a Great Scouting Day!

Memorial Day has always been a day that our family observed beyond the BBQ and long weekend event. My Dad was a career soldier and served in Vietnam, and having lost many of his friends there, Memorial Day had special meaning. My Grandfather served in World War II and honored that generation of American Warrior that gave so much for the cause of freedom.
But Memorial Day took on a new or at least a special meaning to me once I returned from Iraq… and more so once I retired from the Army.
It was a hot early morning 18 miles south of Baghdad, I was returning with a Patrol from B CO. We had been patrolling a sector looking for insurgents that had been placing IED’s along MSR Tampa, the main supply route in and out of Baghdad.
We had turned the corner and were on the side road that led into our camp when all of a sudden the whole world came unglued. An RPG hit the HUMMV in the lead of the convoy flipping it over. The young soldier in the turret’s name is SPC Wright. He was severely wounded. The driver and co driver were shaken up pretty bad. The patrol dismounted and returned fire, in what seemed like an hour (it was actually about 2 minutes) it was all over. The insurgents fled.
Now this was not the first time we had engaged the enemy in and around our sector, but this day was the day that we really did not want to make contact.. we were heading home in a few days. Specialist Wright lay on the ground surrounded by medics covered in blood and transmission fluid from the HUMMV. I was looking down at the young man, he was only 20 at the time. His eyes stared at me and he asked me if he was ok. “You’ll be fine” I told him. The medic handed me an IV bag and I held it up as they opened it up to a full drip. “Am I going to die Sergeant Major?” he asked. “Not today” I told him. The Blackhawk with the big red cross on it arrived and we loaded him in. As he flew away I thought that this day would be one I never forget. I had seen death, destruction, and what the worst in human nature could do to other humans, but this was close. When we got back to the states I saw Wright, he is alive a well. He told me that all he could remember of that day was me standing over him telling him he would be ok.
Today we remember all of the men and women that paid in full for our Freedom. I lost a dear friend, SSG Brad Lindsey in the fight against Global Terrorism. He was a soldier in my company when I was a First Sergeant. He was my radio operator. On his second tour in the Global War on Terror he was killed in Action in Afghanistan. It was a hurt that I will never forget.
We have all been touched by the loss of a service member. So today, unfortunately is the one day that we all choose to remember.
So enjoy the BBQ, have a great day off… but some time today, look to the heavens (cause that’s where they are) and say thanks to those that paid the price for our freedom.
Last Thursday, the Scouts of my Troop, and the Scouts of the entire Thunderbird District placed a Flag on every head stone at the Willamette National Cemetery. A few hours of our Scouts showing that they really care and an opportunity to reinforce in this next generation the idea that freedom has a price and someone has to pay it.
I hope to God that none of the Scouts of my Troop ever have to go off to war. But I never want them to forget the men and women that did.

Have a Great Scouting Day!

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